The success of the protest, combined with the growing amount of young people interested in this positive message, made it an easy decision to organize Fiasco Friday II. On March 8, 2011, Lupe Fiasco will release his third studio album, LASERS. On this date, Lupe Fiasco fans in the New York area will meet in Union Square and hold a “Mass Purchase Event” at the Union Square Best Buy. On March 11, 2011, four cities nationwide will hold “LASERS Release Celebrations” to recognize our enormous accomplishment. New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago will mark this historic release with celebration parties, featuring charity fundraisers for the Education Equality Project, speeches, local artist performances, and the repeated playing of LASERS. The event will bring Lupe Fiasco fans together to promote and enjoy the album.
There is a large movement forming all around the world- a group of people hungry for intelligent music. As a generation, we refuse to be slaves to commercial radio and the musical power-grab by large corporations. Music is one of the most important tools of expression and is a massive platform for the spread of ideas. A growing faction of global youth is sick and tired of substance-less music that encourages a society built on materialism, sexism, ignorance, and a false sense of rebellion without a cause. Politically and socially conscious hip-hop has been a staple in music since its creation in the 1970s. Sadly, that major portion of hip-hop has drastically declined and is barely breathing in comparison to the sex-driven rap of 2010. A substantial reason for this change is that major music corporations reward mediocre artists for putting out repetitive music instead of encouraging creativity and diversity. These greedy music tyrants demand that artists constantly put out status-quo music that suppresses originality. Few artists are bold enough to maintain a strong, intelligent, hip-hop sound. One of those artists is Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, or Lupe Fiasco. This movement is a reflection of Lupe himself, and the quality music and messages he delivers to the public.